Sealed wooden package.



No. 891,009t PATENTED JUNE 16, 190s.

' Emmi-EDY.

SEALED WooDEN` PACKAGE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 29, 1906.

HARRY U. RUEDY, OF TOLEDO, OHIO.

SEALED WOODEN PACKAGE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented .Tune 16, 1908.

Application filed March 29, 1906. Serial No. 309,236.

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that l, HARRY U. RUEDY, of Toledo, county of Lucas, and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Sealed Wooden Packages; and l do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the iigures of reference marked thereon, which form part of this specification.

My invention relates to closures for vessels and more particularly to closures for casks and barrels employed for shipping or storing food products required to be immersed in a liquid to insure their preservation; and it has foi` its object to provide a cask or barrel with a head having means for effectively clamping and sealing the same in position thereon.

A further object is to provide means for sealing a Wooden package in such a manner that no metal or metallic surface shall be exposed to the liquid therein to accomplish its deterioration by chemical action.

With the foregoing objects in view and such others as will hereinafter appear my invention is constructed, and it comprises the novel arrangement of parts and details of construction hereinafter described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, made part hereof, in which- Figure 1 is a top plan view of a cask or barrel head provided with my improved means for clamping the same in position; Fig. 2 is an elevation illustrating the operation of my invention, the right half of the iigure showing the head firmly clamped in position upon the cask, the left half showing the same in unclamped position, the section of the clamping parts being on line Fig. 1 g Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail partly in section, and illustrating the operation of the clamping means by dotted outline; and Fig. 4 is a bottom plan view of the grooved plate provided centrally of the head.

Referring to the details of construction, 1 indicates a cask or barrel provided upon its inner face adjacent to the top margin thereof with a shouldered groove 2, the shoulder 3 of which is reinforced by a metal band or ring 4 closely fitted within and permanently occupying the upper half of the groove, being placed therein when the barrel is assembled and being then firmly held in position by the pressure of the staves thereon. Also eXtending entirely around the inner face of the cask below the groove 2 is a shoulder 5 adapted to receive and provide a seat for a compressible packing 6 upon which the head 7 rests. Head 7 consists of a wooden portion 8 serving as the closure for the cask, the same being laminated or built up of pieces arranged crosswise of each other to insure the necessary strength and to prevent warping. A groove 9 about the lower edge of the closure 8 serves to retain the packing in position upon vthe shoulder when the packing is subj ected to pressure. Upon the top face of the portion 8 is secured, preferably by means of screws, a cast spider 10 having radial arms as shown, and provided with a central stud 11 projecting upwardly through a perforation 12 in a plate 13, a suitable fastening such as a cotter pin 14, being provided to hold the plate 13 in position.

Plate 13 on its under side is provided with radial grooves 15 adapted Ato receive the inner ends of clamping bars 16. These bars are disposed radially upon the arms of the spider and are movable in the direction of their length, being guided in their movement by the grooves 15. At the outer extremity of each groove in the plate 13 is a shouldered offset 17 projecting downwardly into a recess 18 provided near the inner ends of each bar 16, the endwise movement of the bars being limited by contact of the side walls of the recess with the outer and inner faces of the offset. The lioor ofeach recess 18 is stepped to provide ashoulder 19 adaptedvto engage the outer face of the oHset when the inner end of the bar is elevated in clamped position, the bar being positively held in outward position thereby. The outer ends 20 of the bars 16 are adapted to be manually projected into the grooves 2 to underlie the ring 4, and adjacent to their outer ends each bar is operatively engaged by a lever 21 having a cam-shaped end 22 disposed in a recess 23 and resting upon the face of the spider, the latter serving as a clamping face to force the closure 8 of the head downward when the levers are operated.

The operation of the invention is as follows When the cask is to be closed the head is placed in position to rest upon the packing provided about the shoulder surrounding the top margin of the cask. The clamping bars are then moved outwardly to cause the ends thereof to underlie the ring 4,

`13 will be but slight.

the levers of each bar having been previously elevated to permit such' movement. The levers are now lowered, causing the bar to be entirely removed from contact with the face of the spider, the outer end of the bar pressing forcibly against the lower face of the ring 4 while the inner end of each bar presses upwardly against the plate 13, the inward movement of the bars being locked by engagement of the shoulders 19 with the outer faces of the offsets 17, as plainly shown in dotted lines, Fig. 3. Since the clamping action of the levers is exerted near the outer ends of the bars the maximum pressure will be upon said ends while the upward pressure of the inner ends of the bars upon the plate To guard against tampering or unauthorized inspection of the contents of the package the clamping bars and their levers may be provided with registering or alined perforations as at 24 to receive an ordinary wire seal. To insure against the lpossibility of the levers being accidentally raised during the shipment of the package, I may provide a supplemental plate or disk 25, shown in dotted outline, Fig. 3, secured upon the stud 11 in contact with the plate 13, the outer margins ofthe plate 25 being adapted to overlie the inner ends of the levers, and necessitating the removal of the plate to raise the levers when the package reaches its destination.

Having described my invention, what l claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is# 1. In a means for sealing wooden packages, the combination with a cask provided with an annular groove about the margin of its open end and having a reinforcement in said groove, and also provided with a shouldered packing seat adjacent to said groove, of a closure for the cask adapted to rest upon the packing seat, a radially grooved plate supported centrally upon the closure, a plurality of clamping bars disposed radially upon the closure and adapted to be guided for outward movement by the grooves of said plate, the inner ends of said bars being held against elevation by said plate, and clamping levers operable to elevate the outer ends of said bars and clamp said ends against the reinforcement in the groove of the cask.

2. In a means for sealing wooden packages, the combination with a cask provided with a shouldered groove about the margin of its open end and having a reinforcement in the shoulder of said groove and also provided with a shouldered packing seat adjacent to said groove, of a' closure for the cask adapted to rest upon the packing seat, clamping bars disposed radially upon the closure adapted to be manually operated to cause the outer ends thereof to project into the groove inthe cask, means disposed centrally of the closure to hold the inner ends of said bars against elevation when clamped, and levers having cam-shaped ends adapted to engage the barsy near their outer ends to clamp said outer ends against the reinforcement of the groove of the cask.

In a means for sealing wooden packages, the combination with a cask provided with a shouldered groove about the margin of its open end and having a` reinforcement in the shoulder of said groove, and also provided with a shouldered packing seat adjacent to said. groove, of a closure for the cask adapted to rest upon the packing seat, radial clamping bars mounted upon the closureand having an endwise movement to permit the outer ends thereof to underlie the reinforcement of the groove in the cask, means for clamping said outer ends against the reinforcement ofthe groove, means for holding the inner ends of the bars against elevation when clamped, and means for locking said bars, when clamped, against inward movement.

In testimony,.that I claim the foregoing as my. own I afliX my signature, in presence of two witnesses. A

HARRY U. RURDY.

Witnesses:

CARL H. KELLER, A. RUEDY. 

